Richard Carrier (born 1969) is an American historian, atheist activist, author, public speaker and blogger. Carrier has a doctorate in ancient history
Resurrection is the concept of coming back to life after death. In a number of ancient religions, a dying-and-rising god is a deity which dies and
Dionysus, also known as Bacchus, was a significant god in ancient Greek religion, revered for his association with wine, vegetation, fertility, and
Paganism is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians. It was applied on populations of the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism
Horus is one of the most significant ancient Egyptian deities. He was worshipped from at least the late prehistoric Egypt until the Ptolemaic Kingdom
In monotheism and henotheism, God is conceived as the Supreme Being and principal object of faith. The concept of God as described by theologians
No. Jesus himself raised people after their death:
1. Jairus' daughter (Mark 5:35-43)
2. Son of a widow at Nain (Luke 11:11-17)
3. Lazarus, who was dead for four days (John 11-1-44)
Furthermore, the Old Testament shows women received their dead by resurrection (Hebrews 11:35)
Elijah raised a widows son from death (I Kings 17:17-24)
Therefore, the resurrection itself would not make Jesus unique or divine even.
The resurrection of Jesus is of crucial importance to Christian doctrine. The Christian religion was founded many years after the death of Jesus based on the beliefs in his resurrection. Put simply, if there was no resurrection story, their would be no Christianity.
Some disciples did doubt Jesus' resurrection of Jesus, based on the text from Matthew 28:17
The resurrection is the most controversial creed issue facing Christianity today. There are numerous explanations for the resurrection, all of which are contested. There is no concensus if Jesus' tomb was found empty or not; whether disciples saw anything or not; even if anything happened or not.
In order to increase the number of Christian converts, Christian
missionaries deliberately adopted pre-existing pagan holy places,
shrines, special days and even pagan statues of God.
Pope Gregory I (540-604 CE), a famous Christian leader encouraged
accomodating pagan customs and beliefs. So if pagans worshipped a
Tree or Spirit abiding in it, rather than shun the pagan worship,
he urged priests to somehow link the worship to Jesus Christ, and
allow them to continue their Tree or pagan idol worship.
December 25th was the most important of Sun Festivals, the new
birth of the God, rising three days after 'dying' at the winter
solstice. Today, the celebration continues and its many features
can be witnessed. A few of these include:
* Excessive eating, drinking and merry was commin in Saturnalia
festival
* Father Christmas (Red Man) - who was originally Apollo, the
Sun-God or Thor God depicted as an elderly man, jovial or
friendly, of heavy build with a long white beard who drove a
chariot through the sky
* Fireplace - the fireplace in pagan homes was sacred to Thor
God which he would descend though the chimney
* Giving of gifts - a feature of Saturnalia festival
* Christmas card bearing the cheeky robin bird (with its chest
bearing the flame symbol)
* Snowman - who melts when the Sun comes out (is defeated by
the Sun)
* Fir-tree trinkets and decorations, symbolising life in the
'dead' parts of the world
* Holly - to deflect evil goblins in winter solstice
* Ivy - the female version of the 'male' holly
* Mistletoe - used by pagan druids in their worship
* Yule Log - sacred to the Thor God which is symbolised today
as a chocolate cake
The pagan Triadic dieties were shown as a single-head with 3 faces, 3 mouths but only 4 mouths. Such images were preserved across the Roman Empire.
Does the Christian Trinity come from pagan Triadic dieties?
Yes. The core teachings of the Trinitarian Christian churches
today do not come from Jesus.
The three-in-one Gods are pagan concepts that existed long before
Jesus arrived. Later on, Christians adopted this concept and
instantly made Christian doctrine an appealing alternative to the
pagan God worshipping masses.
It is highly likely the reason why the Church priests burned and destroyed the earlier records of pagan Gods was to hide the evidence for the real origins of their own Christian mythology.
* Dinoysus, the Greek God also known as Bacchus was born on
December 25th
* Dinoysus' mother was a virgin called Demeter
* The world was full of evil, so the GOD of Gods was called on
to save humanity
* The prayer was accepted by Jupiter who declared his Son
would redeem the world from its misery
* Dionysus known as his only begotten-Son, was sent as the
Saviour
* The shedding of Dinoysus' blood was symbolized in his gift
of wine to humanity